Improvement in manufacture of stockings



M. MARSHALL.

MANUFACTURE 0F sTocKINGs.

Patented Dec. 19, 1876.

THE GRAPHIC CILNX IMPRQYEMFNTLIN..MA

Teelt whomjtmayconectan,. i k,

Be it knownl tha l, ,Moses MARSHALL, ,of Lowell, in the countypf Middlesex aiidz'Sitate of Massachusetts, haveinvented..certain 'Iniprovements in the Manufactured Stockings, ot' which the following isgaspeciticat l v .This ,invention consists ,of. A stockin ibs its leg-knit oiL-elnahine .11,1 than) aruba-With if@ IOW'eIYgQDd lliltllf p two separate parts, to for-m ,theheel' ln'cliiil Step; .each partfherirg,.selyageedstanl then, byl means of .another machinehiav g the foot knit on complete at oneope'ra in, Witllgol Without'agore the sides of the instep, as hereinafter more'fully described,

Figure l represents the ,tubular'portion completed, ready for receiving the foot. Fig. 2 shows the same with the foot knit on, and Fig. 3 represents the stocking complete, and Fig. 4 represents the foot detached.

Heretofore, in the manufacture of stockings or socks, it has been customary to knit on circular machines the tubular web from which the legs are formed in long pieces, many yards in length, and then, after cutting them into pieces of the requisite length for a stocking-leg, to cut a slit in them on one side, in which a heel was knit by hand or otherwise. By cutting this slit the edges thereof were left raw, as it is termed-that is to say, the stitches, or the yarn composing them, are cut, thereby leaving the edges loose and free to ravel, and necessitating the .forming of a seam at those parts, when they are ultimately sewed to the part forming the foot, which seam is objectionable. Another objection to these stockings, as ordinarily made, when the foot is formed in Whole or in part by machinery, is that the portion of the foot which is knit onto the heel is made of uniform wldth, thus making the stocking no wider across the instep than it is on the ankle above, thereby rendering it liable to break loose at the upper end of the slit, where the foot is joined to it, and also causing it to draw across the heelin such a manner as to strain it, rendering it liable to give way at that point, and also making it disagreeable to wear.

It is to remedy these objections, and at the same time enable the stocking to be made by machinery in a better, cheaper, and more N'TURE oF SVTOcKiN'c-is.

i' *,rapidlmannermthan has heretofore been done, ,that present invention is designed. To"

laggiorn"plisl this,"l I rst knit the leg A on 'a tubular machinewof 'peculiar construction, Aw'liichis so made as to knit the tubular part eitlierfribbed'or plain, by a continuons circu- ,lva'r motion, in the usual way, nntil'theA leg has gbeenformed to thepoint where the slit begi'1`is-aft er1whicrh the, machine is adjustedso atknit "the two Seperate flaps B C by a reciprocating motion, whereby the edges e' of these Vflaps are formedwith a selvage onieach'. Thisniachinewillfbrm thesubj'ectwof a sep#- lja'ljafte application, and theretbreneed not be i fturithendescribed herein. After having thus form' dftlie leg'v A with the selvageledged flaps ferred to what is known as the'Lamb knittingmachine. Here the first operation is to take up on the needles the stitches of the two inside or selvage edges of the back flap C, when the lower part of the foot E is knit on of a length equal to that of the front ap B, when the stitches at the end of the latter are taken up on needles of the machine, and the foot knit on in a tubular form, and finally narrowed olf to complete the toe, the stocking at this stage being left in the condition represented in Fig. 2. The lower portion of the foot, which is irst formed, as above described, is also knit with selvage-edges f, these coming opposite the selvage-edges e of the front ap B, as represented in Fig. 2. These selvage-edges are then united by being sewed together, the stitches along each edge being united by a thread and needle by hand, thereby leaving a perfectly plain or flat surface, without any projecting seam whatever. As the lower portion of the t'oot is knit it is narrowed more or less as it proceeds from the point where it joins onto the rear ap C, thereby forming a gore, D, as shown in' Figs. 2 and 3, on each side of the instep, thus making the stocking larger around the instep and heel, and obviating the strain and liability to break loose where the parts are united, and also making it more easy and pleasant to the foot ot' the wearer. After the edges of the lower part of the foot have been united to the front flap B, as above described, it only remains to close the bottom end h of the heel-flap C, which is `L 13C, itQis taken from the machine and traris-I V11:34) C, and then knit it complete. In that the stocking is rendered complete, aamipre'-` sented in Fig. 3.

The machines are both so constructed thatA they can be made to form either ribbed or plain work when knitting in a circle, or, when reciprocating, can knit one part ribbediand.

the other plain at the will of the operator, and therefore it will be seen that the leg may be either ribbed or plain, the formex'being5 .l

preferred, and that, whether the leg be ribbed' or plain, either ot' the tlaps may, in like manner, be ribbed or plain, and so of the foot. Thus, while the leg and rear iap or vheel are ribbed the .front flap and heel maybe plain, or. the. front ap may be ribbed and thefoot plain, or the rear part of the foot may be ribbed and the rest of it made plain, as preferred,these all being varied at the willot' the operator, or the desire of the manufacturer. v

Itis obvious that this style of leg maybe `used with a foot made by hand, or'inaiman- .ner di'erent from that above described', and

also that the foot may be made separate from theleg, and then be attached to it, `or be used with-legs-made in the usual manner,;t,on1y

beingk necessary to set up the stitches at the rear endlof the foot-piece or part E', where the latter is `.joined to the front .edge offthe rear orotchet-needle in such a manner as to prej'ecting seam or rifge, as'iswell-"understood by those skilled in the art, `the foot being made with thegore "Dianfd itlie-fselvage-edges f, the same as when knit on the leg,"as hereinbefore described, and as represented in Fig. 4.

n By this method Qtmakisgtthe.artilemnch handlabor is saved, andf'abetter, more durable, and superior stocking is produced.

. ESEMASHL, l Witnesses; r '2;

PiTroneE,

ci i

sent avr smooth :aevengsnrfacegw-ithout any pro- Having thus described my invention, what 

